Model Train Journal

They're indeed shipping paint now, I have a friend who is doing a post-war B&O train in HO styrene that just received his order of Scalecoat II colors for it. He lives in Dallas and is waiting for the temperature to drop down some before applying it as his paint booth is in his garage. I'm looki...

The third and last of Marty’s models run was an extensively re-worked Sunset USRA 2-10-2 modified into Southern’s unique duplex drive Ss Class #5046. Like it’s prototype this is an unusual model to say the least, I’ve only seen one other done though not to this degree of accuracy. Needless to say th...

http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/steam/switchers/sou6034baldwin1922.html FWIW the internet tells me USRA 0-8-0 stable comprised 175 engines and 15 companies. Most of the NYC and Southern examples have that coffin style, but obviously with enough variations to stick to photos of a ...

https://hosting.photobucket.com/61a91bb5-3cba-46ff-954e-39317489777d/cfd13367-3446-4518-abe2-d47949267b2f.jpeg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds&agent-check=true Part Deux, a USRA 0-8-0 by USH that Marty’s modified and painted as a Southern class AS-11 #6032, modifications include re-loca...

Wow, seconding Butch's observation about your taking these out-doors in natural light.
Certainly elevates it to a fine art form, the careful composition of the modules make for a virtual time machine.
Amazing images.

Thanks guys, like I said the layout is something to behold, period matched to the nineteen-fifties and largely devoted to the Central of Georgia and Southern, hand laid track and switches, mostly code 120 with a lot of scratch and kit-built structures and rolling stock. Bob, here’s a link to a build...

Last week I was invited to an operating session of my old RMCA club at (the late) Ray Duvarney’s layout, still maintained/curated by Bruce Copeland and Brad Smith who are also working on the RMCA’s new layout design as well as rendering their own massive HO version of the Southern’s Macon-Atlanta-Ch...

Love these outdoor shots, Butch the paint and finish on that turbine is truly excellent, the weathering et al WOW!! Erik, your Yampa Valley is superb. I'm assuming these are both PRB cars? That dome-lounge-ob is iconic for DRG&W's postwar fleet which I find more interesting than the CZ which, as...

These are fabulous! The boxcars remind me of some the Clover House offerings back when they were still selling while the gondola reminds of that old Mainline Models On3 kit with the silk-screened sides.

Great photos Erik, as usual. Sunset? Like these pre-war Rockets and the story on how that program/initiative came about for the CRI&P during the Depression. Although ultimately may have only postponed the Rock's eventual demise, it apparently was good for everyone's morale back then except for t...

Yeah, this is Golden.
Erik did you build that coaling tower? What a fantastic model and not a walk in the park either, much less if you have to move it frequently as you're wisely using finished portable modules for your out-door set-ups. The realism is mind blowing.....

My personal preference is to decal rather than mask off stripes, I find the time and steps required for masking considerable and (again opinion) getting the desired results can be far more tedious than decals. Not that decals don't have their own tedium/drawbacks as have already been pointed out her...

Nothing says PC like a variety of gons, lead sleds etc. Great looking models!

I really appreciate the nice comments guys, thanks! Regarding the grey shroud color specifically this J3a version (WW2 era.) Having belabored this with Sarge, likely to his annoyance, I concluded per his advice and my own customer’s preferences that the shade of grey here (Tru-Color Pacemaker Grey) ...

This bears an uncanny resemblance to the operating sessions at my old club. About half the members were retired railroad employees or had worked in the industry and one point or another. The rest of us, upon first joining, received a quick tutorials on lexicon, verbiage and appropriately colorful pr...